Dr. Assimina (Mina) Pelegri is a professor and the current chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers University’s School of Engineering. She played a pivotal role in establishing the university’s aerospace engineering degree program, significantly contributing to the department’s growth and academic excellence. She is also a founder and current director of Rutgers’ Advanced Materials and Structures and Tissue Characterization and Modeling Laboratories. Dr. Pelegri’s research interests include composite materials design, modeling, and characterization, with current research projects spanning super-hard materials’ response on ballistic loads to modeling neuron degradation during Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain injury using hybrid numerical/AI approaches. Dr. Pelegri is a recipient of an NSF CAREER award and funding from multiple federal and state agencies. She is a fellow and active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). She has served as associate editor of the following journals  Journal of the Engineering and Science of Medical Diagnostics and Therapy (JESMDT), Journal of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (JAIAA), and Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology (JEMT).  Dr. Pelegri’s dedication to her students has been recognized by Rutgers, where she has been named an Outstanding Faculty of the Rutgers School of Engineering and a Rutgers University Mentor of the Year. She was recognized as an Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni of Georgia Institute of Technology and was awarded the ASME Gold Medal / Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal. She also holds an Amelia Earhart Award from Zonta International and she is a Fulbright scholar. She earned her Ph.D. and MS degrees in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a  MoT degree from its Scheller Business School. She holds an undergraduate degree from Greece’s National Technical University of Athens.